Social sustainability & cities
Housing Affordability
Definition
Housing affordability describes whether households can meet their housing costs — rent or mortgage, plus associated charges — without sacrificing other basic needs. It is most commonly measured by the share of income spent on housing: in SDG monitoring under indicator 11.1.1, unaffordability is operationalised as net monthly housing expenditure exceeding 30 per cent of household income. Affordability stress is rising in cities worldwide as prices outpace incomes.
References
measurement standard
Overview
What it means
Housing is usually the largest item in a household budget; when it consumes a third or more of income, families cut spending on food, health, and education, accept overcrowding, or are pushed into informal settlements.
Affordability is thus a gateway social-sustainability issue: it shapes health, education, labour markets, and urban sprawl, and it is why SDG 11 targets adequate, safe, and affordable housing for all by 2030.
How it is used
The concept structures housing policy, rent regulation and subsidy debates, urban planning, and ESG analysis of real estate and employers.
Why it matters
A city that its workers cannot afford to live in is neither just nor sustainable.